After 19 years with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, Patrick Groetzki is quitting
his career with the handball Bundesliga team. The 36-year-old will receive a fitting farewell at the last home game.
After 19 years with Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar Löwen, Patrick Groetzki’s impressive career ends next Sunday with the away game in Gummersbach. This Wednesday evening, the 36-year-old said goodbye to his own audience at the home game against TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. The Lions’ narrow 29:28 victory against Lower Saxony, to which Groetzki contributed a goal, was almost irrelevant.
Groetzki says goodbye to the fans
Because it was a special evening in the Mannheim Arena. On the one hand, by the fans, many of whom wore T-shirts with the inscription “Once a lion, always a legend” and who unrolled a large jersey with Groetzki’s number 24 over the stands before the game. And also by Patrick Groetzki, nicknamed “Johnny”, who couldn’t completely hide his emotions when he took the lap of honor with his teammates after the game and then waved to the crowd at the official farewell ceremony – the departure of an exceptional player in the handball Bundesliga.
Farewell to the number 24: The fans of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen say goodbye to Patrick Groetzki before the last home game
Patrick Groetzki: record man with a title
In the club’s history, the Lions won two championships (2016, 2017), they won the DHB Cup twice (2018, 2023), the Supercup three times (2016, 2017, 2018) and the EHF Cup once. Groetzki was involved in all title wins. No other player managed to do that. The 36-year-old has appeared in 581 Bundesliga games for Mannheim. A record. Maybe even forever.
“There are actually no Rhein-Neckar Löwen without Patrick Groetzki,” said his former teammate Joel Birlehm after the game on the “DYN” station. “Patrick is one of the great sports personalities in the handball Bundesliga. He is an ambassador for our Bundesliga and handball nationally and internationally,” said league managing director Frank Bohmann at the beginning of the week in tribute to the Löwen professional, who is undoubtedly not only a face of his club, but of the entire sport. He shaped handball.
Records, records, records at the Rhein-Neckar Lions
Of course, none of this was foreseeable when he came to the Lions in the summer of 2007. At that time, the right winger was overshadowed by the other newcomers Christian Schwarzer, Oliver Roggisch and Henning Fritz, all of whom had become world champions a few months earlier. Groetzki remembered that he was “young and shy” back then, but he quickly found his role and got playing time.
After 19 years with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, it’s over for Patrick Groetzki: he swaps the cheering pose on the plate for a role in club management
A talent first became a regular player, then a top performer and finally the captain of the Lions. The Pforzheim native repeatedly extended his contract. “There was no real reason to change,” said Groetzki, who competed in seven world championships. No German national player can achieve more. This is also a record that he holds together with goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter.
Groetzki moves to management of the Lions
After 19 years as a professional with the Lions, it is not surprising that the right winger will remain with his self-proclaimed “heart club” in the future. He is moving into club management and has been involved in various projects for some time. “Ultimately, it’s a good feeling to end my career knowing that I know exactly what’s going to happen next. That gives me peace of mind. It’s the right decision to do something new now,” Groetzki is certain in an interview with “Mannheimer Morgen” and is looking forward to being able to “design his life a little more individually” in the future.
Until now, his entire family life has depended on the Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s training and game schedule. All these years there were only fixed dates that were non-negotiable. “I couldn’t just take a day off. That’s possible in the future,” says Groetzki, seeing the advantages of his future job, which he will approach with a lot of passion. Because one thing is clear: Even if Groetzki will no longer be on the field, he only wants the best for “his” lions.
